RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia Senate panel has endorsed extending sales taxes to ride services like Uber and Lyft and also voted to impose a motor fuels tax in the state’s western region.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the Senate Finance transportation subcommittee recommended approval of both bills on 4-2 votes Wednesday.
The tax on ride services is part of legislation proposed by Sens. Dick Saslaw and George Barker to raise more than $21 million a year for mass transit systems across Virginia and raise $154 million a year for the Washington-area Metro system.
The 2.1 percent fuel tax is part of a bill Senate Finance Co-Chairman Emmett Hanger proposed to help fund Interstate 81 improvements from Bristol to West Virginia’s panhandle.
The bills go before the full Senate Finance Committee meeting Thursday afternoon.
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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.richmond.com